Thai AirAsia is expanding further into the Japan market, introducing direct flights from Bangkok Don Mueang to Okinawa (above).
The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Feb. 9
Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines has announced the launch of a scheduled service to Singapore Changi Airport starting April 26. This new route will operate daily. “With the recent announcement of the mutual 30-day visa-exemption arrangement between China and Singapore, it is anticipated that the number of visitors to Singapore from mainland China, including the Greater Bay Area, will go up further and vice versa,” the carrier says in a statement.
Starting Aug. 1, Aeroméxico will resume daily operations between Mexico City International Airport (MEX) and Seoul Incheon International Airport. On departure from MEX, the route will make a stopover at the Monterrey International Airport. Seoul is the airline's second destination in Asia, after having resumed direct operations to Tokyo in March 2023.
Thai AirAsia is expanding further into the Japan market, introducing direct flights from Bangkok Don Mueang to Okinawa. From April 2, the route will be served four times per week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. “Based on strong demand, Thai AirAsia will now be flying direct to Okinawa in Japan for the very first time, marking the second route to Japan flown by Thai AirAsia after we re-introduced flights post pandemic to Fukuoka in October 2022,” Thai AirAsia CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya says.
Southwest Airlines is adding two new destinations from Tennessee. From Oct. 3, flights will begin between Memphis and Las Vegas, operating twice a week, followed by Sunday-only flights between Nashville and Richmond from Oct. 6. The airline will also resume seasonal weekend nonstop service between Nashville and Cancun, Mexico, from Oct. 5. Elsewhere, Southwest plans to resume several other seasonal routes on Oct. 5, including Atlanta-Cancun, San Antonio-Cancun, Fort Lauderdale-Mondego Bay, Kansas City-Los Cabos and Sacramento-Los Cabos.
LOT Polish Airlines will restart domestic seasonal Rzeszow-Gdansk flights from June 3. Operations will be 2X-weekly through Sept. 14.
Feb. 8
Kenya Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with fellow SkyTeam alliance member Air Europa. The partnership will see Kenya Airways add its code on Air Europa-operated flights from Amsterdam to Madrid, and from Madrid to Miami, New York and Palma de Mallorca. Meanwhile, Spain’s Air Europe will add its code to Kenya Airways’ flights between Amsterdam and Nairobi. “This alliance allows us to significantly expand our reach in a region with growing demand, which will certainly be of great benefit to our customers,” Air Europa Director of Alliances Estelle Leray says.
Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines is broadening its Japanese network. The carrier has confirmed plans to open a 3X-weekly route from Taichung to Takamatsu, a port city on Japan’s Shikoku Island. Flights will start on March 31 onboard Airbus A321neo aircraft. Starlux offers nine routes to Japan at present, all of which originate at Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan International, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows. Takamatsu will be a new point in its network.
Emirates Airline will be boosting its offering to Osaka, Japan, with the introduction of Airbus A380 service starting from June 1. The four-class aircraft will replace the Dubai-based carrier’s Boeing 777-300ER currently operating the EK316/EK317 service to and from Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX). The move will increase the number of seats between the destinations by 910 per week. Emirates also operates a daily A380 service to Tokyo Narita and a daily 777-300ER service to Tokyo Haneda.
Air Arabia Egypt is launching nonstop flights from Cairo to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Service will begin on April 2, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. “The three weekly flights between Cairo International Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport will not only strengthen connectivity, but also cater to the growing demand for travel between the two cities,” Air Arabia CEO Adel Al Ali says.
Ryanair says it plans to operate its largest summer schedule from Portugal, with 170 total routes, among which are 14 new connections to destinations including Alicante, Belfast, Budapest, Krakow, Madrid and Pisa. Traffic is expected to grow to 13.5 million passengers per year, an increase of 7%. However, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary hit out at airport operator ANA for increasing fees, as well as the government for failing to prioritize the development of Lisbon’s Montijo Airport. Additionally, Ryanair says it will operate its largest summer schedule from Malta in 2024, featuring 67 routes and three new connections to Belfast, Norwich and Rome. The schedule includes increased frequencies on 20 additional routes and a seventh based aircraft.
Feb. 7
German leisure airline Condor is returning to Thailand for the first time in more than eight years. The carrier plans to launch two routes to the country from September, flying nonstop from Frankfurt to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Phuket International Airport (HKT). Frequencies to BKK and HKT will be 4X-weekly and 3X-weekly, respectively, using Airbus A330neo aircraft. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, Condor last served the Thai market in April 2016. In addition, the airline has announced a new route between Berlin and Dubai International Airport (DXB) from October, operating daily onboard A320neos. The service will provide competition for Eurowings, which entered the Berlin-Dubai market in October 2023 and intends to fly the route during the winter 2024-25 season.
Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, will join Qatar Airways’ network from June 2. Flights from Doha Hamad International Airport will be available four times per week through Oct. 25 using Airbus A320 aircraft. The carrier previously intended to launch the route in January 2022, but flights failed to materialize.
India’s Akasa Air has announced the addition of Srinagar as the 20th destination to its domestic network. Starting March 1, the carrier will operate daily flights from Mumbai. The move increases the startup’s network from Mumbai to 13 cities across India. “This network expansion is a significant milestone as it marks the airline’s entry into the state of Jammu and Kashmir, strengthening its domestic presence in the northern part of the country,” Akasa says in a statement.
Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aéreas and Aerolineas Argentinas are expanding their codeshare agreement to include routes between Argentina and Colombia. The airlines will now codeshare on flights between Buenos Aires Ezeiza and Bogota, operated by GOL, and Buenos Aires Aeroparque and Bogota, operated by Aerolineas Argentinas. GOL and Aerolineas Argentinas began their partnership in 2007 through an interline agreement and launched their first codeshare routes in 2014. As previously reported, GOL plans to launch Bogota-Buenos Aires flights on March 31.
The U.S. Transportation Department has approved TAP Air Portugal’s application for authorization to codeshare with JetBlue Airways. This will enable New York-based JetBlue to place its B6 code on TAP-operated flights between Europe and the U.S. TAP says the planned codeshare will initially cover routes from Lisbon to Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York John F. Kennedy, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.
Cyprus Airways has launched a new route connecting Larnaca and Brussels. Flights to Belgium’s capital will be twice a week using Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
Feb. 6
Garuda Indonesia is to commence daily flights between Jakarta and Doha, Qatar, from April 4. The airline plans to operate the route using Boeing 777-300 aircraft, featuring 26 business-class seats and 367 economy seats. Qatar Airways, which has a codeshare in place with Garuda, is currently the sole provider of nonstop flights between Qatar and Indonesia, operating 3X-daily to both Denpasar-Bali and Jakarta, as well as 3X-weekly to Medan. “There are strong business, tourism and cultural ties between Indonesia and Qatar, and we believe this new service will further boost those activities between the two countries, while offering easier access for travelers from Qatar to Indonesia,” says Garuda Indonesia President and CEO Irfan Setiaputra.
Lion Air is set to launch a new domestic route in Indonesia. Operations between Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, and Banjarmasin, located in the South Kalimantan province, will commence on March 20. Frequencies will be daily using Boeing 737-800 equipment.
Emirates Airline plans to resume flights to Adelaide, Australia, from Oct. 28. The route from Dubai will operate daily using Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. Emirates launched the route in 2012 and carried more than 165,000 passengers between Dubai and Adelaide in 2019. The service ceased in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.
Bahrain’s Gulf Air has opened a new route to Al Ula in Saudi Arabia. Flights will operate twice a week until March 6 and from April 10-27 using Airbus A320neo aircraft.
WestJet says it will introduce 10 new routes and return or extend 16 services during the summer 2024 season. The full schedule will be published over the coming weeks, but the Canadian carrier plans to add flights between: Calgary-Deer Lake; Calgary-Reykjavik; Calgary-Seoul; Edmonton-Atlanta; Edmonton-Nashville; Edmonton-San Francisco; Halifax-Edinburgh; Regina-Minneapolis; St. John’s-London Gatwick; and Vancouver-Detroit. WestJet says the schedule sees 44% growth in Halifax compared with summer 2023, and 60% growth in St. John’s.
Feb. 5
Delta Air Lines is boosting service to Latin America and the Caribbean next winter, launching flights from its Atlanta (ATL), New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) hubs. Daily service from ATL to Barbados (BGI) will commence on Nov. 23, and Saturday-only flights to BGI from JFK are set to begin Dec. 21. Daily operations between ATL and Puerto Plata start on Nov. 23, while a 3X-weekly service from MSP to Mazatlán, Mexico, commences on Dec. 21. Additionally, Delta is increasing flights to Curaçao from ATL from Saturday-only to daily service beginning Nov. 23.
Mexicana de Aviación has inaugurated operations to Nuevo Laredo International Airport. The Mexican startup will serve the destination from Mexico City’s Felipe Ángeles International Airport three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Viva Aerobus also operates the route, while Aeromexico serves Nuevo Laredo from Mexico City Juárez International Airport.
Emerald Airlines, operator of Aer Lingus Regional flights, is resuming a 2X-weekly service between Dublin and Brest Bretagne Airport, France, during the summer 2024 season. Flights will restart on May 4. The carrier will also introduce a 2X-weekly route from Dublin to Rennes, France, on May 1. Both services are scheduled to operate until late October. “Building on the customer demand from summer 2023, we anticipate a warm reception for these flights from both the Irish and French communities,” Emerald Airlines Head of Commercial Ian Lough says. “This revival reflects our commitment to meeting the travel needs of our passengers and further strengthening the connectivity between Ireland and France.”
Air Serbia plans to open a 3X-weekly route between Belgrade and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Flights will be offered using Embraer E175 aircraft with a flight duration of 50 min. Jiri Marek, CEO of Air Serbia, says: “The direct air route between Belgrade and Mostar was first introduced just over six decades ago, in 1962. After a 30-year hiatus, thanks to the agreement we signed today, we will once again be flying to that city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” By adding Mostar to its network, Air Serbia will be flying to a total of 17 cities in the former Yugoslavia.
Gulf Air has outlined proposals to resume four seasonal services. The airline says it intends to restart flying from Bahrain to Alexandria and Sharm el Sheikh, in Egypt, Bodrum, in Turkey, and Nice, in France. Service will be reinstated in June.
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